Thursday, December 02, 2004

Tea, Honey and Lemon Juice

...is what the medical profession is recommending to bring back my voice - and it seems to be working. Kaiser Permanente now has a 24 hour medical advice hot line which is a most useful innovation since I never want to take work time to get medical advice during working hours, let alone go to the doctor. It may well be that the advice nurse is in South Asia, but I have respect for Indian and Sri Lankan medicine, so this is not a problem for me. And Kaiser now has their own after hours emergency service as well. Given the present state of the US health care system, this is probably as good as it gets.

My sister sent me this, and then someone else did too.
BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- A four-letter term that came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year's presidential campaign tops U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's list of the 10 words of the year.
Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog, defined as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks," was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.

The budget is still not finished. In case anyone is interested, here is an excerpt of a document that is now more than 10 pp long, complete with tables.

Estimated capital replacement costs for instructional spaces.
The estimated total value of equipment presently installed in instructional spaces is about $438,400. Assuming a 3 year average lifetime for most of the equipment and a 4 year average lifetime for overhead projectors and automatic wall screens yields annual capital replacement cost of $137,425, which would need to be adjusted upward for inflation. The capital replacement model I have constructed assumes an inflation adjustment of 3% per fiscal year, beginning in 2007. Based on this model, capital replacement costs of our presently installed equipment (excluding enhancements) would rise to about $154,500 by 2009 (see table below).

This will not win the national book award, but I am learning a lot about two previous areas of ignorance for me, audiovisual technology and capital budgeting.

Learning and doing new things, whatever they may be, is always valuable and especially so as one gets older.

Life will still be humming in Anderson Hall as midnight approaches. Time to close down the CTE night shift and see what's up.
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About Me

Dormgrandpop is Professor John Richardson. Until recently I was Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore, with joint appointments in “Residential College 4” and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Now my sole appointment is as Adjunct Professor in Residental College 4,
I choose the name “Dormgrandpop” when I began writing this blog in 2004. This was two years after bginning what became a nearly ten year term as American University’s first resident faculty member, occupying an apartment in AU’s largest undergraduate dormitory, Anderson Hall. The name seemed to capture my concept of a faculty member in residence’s role well.
Since settling in Singapore, I have taken a break from my Dormgrandpop postings. Now I hope to resume. I have been considering and receiving advice on whether I should adopt a new name.